


The Breath That Carried Me

by ErinHoltzmann



Category: Florence + the Machine
Genre: F/F, Jealous Florence, Jealous Isa, Oral Sex, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 21:13:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5064379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErinHoltzmann/pseuds/ErinHoltzmann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Florence and Isa go to a club, Florence dances with someone who’s not Isa and Isa kisses someone who’s not Florence. Lots of jealousy ensuses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Breath That Carried Me

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this on tumblr first, but I thought I would also post it here if anyone prefers AO3 over tumblr.

Isa was used to seeing Florence dance. After all, she did it during every concert. But she still couldn’t keep her eyes off her best friend when she was dancing in front of her in the middle of the club, surrounded by so many people that it was almost impossible to cross the dance floor. But Isa saw only Florence and how she swayed her arms in time with the music, spilling drops of her drink onto the white, sleeveless blouse she was wearing.

Isa was trying to get herself to join Florence. She loved to dance with her and Florence gave her many opportunities to do it. But today was different. Today, Isa couldn’t trust herself not to get closer to Florence than she should.

Florence had given her signs over the last couple of months, signs that she was willing to change their relationship, to go from simple hand-holding and sleeping next to each other to tasting each other’s mouths and using the bed for sex rather than sleep. But Isa wasn’t sure, not really. Florence had always been more comfortable with her than with other people. And just because she had looked at Isa with something more than sisterly love in her eyes, and just because she had started to act jealously towards anyone who was friendly to Isa didn’t mean she wanted to be more than friends. And Isa had to think of the band. What if she was misunderstanding Florence? What if she made a move and Florence backed away and things turned awkward between them? Would the group survive it?

But Florence dancing like this right in front of her didn’t help the feeling in her stomach at all, the need to walk up to her, grab her collar, and tell her that she wanted her, that she wanted to feel her body pressed to hers, wanted to feel her touch, wanted to feel her fingers …

Isa looked away and shook her head. She mustn’t have these thoughts now, while there were people around. They were meant for a time when she was alone in bed or taking a shower.

When she looked back towards Florence, any feelings into a certain direction she might have had stopped immediately. Florence was dancing with two men at once, one was facing her, their hands raised and intertwined, the other was behind her, gripping her hip. When she closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the second guy’s shoulder, Isa was roused from staring at them like a deer caught in the head lights, and pushed into the crowd with the sole intent of tearing Florence away.

It was like she was stuck in a nightmare. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t reach Florence. There were too many people, and shouting was no good either, not with the music turned up so loud that Isa’s skin was vibrating with the beat.

 _Florence wouldn’t be doing this if she liked you_ , a nagging voice at the back of her mind remarked.

No, she wouldn’t be doing this, not when she was well aware that Isa could see. The voice made Isa stop in defeat. It was good she hadn’t made a move on Florence then, when the other clearly wasn’t interested.

The pleasant feeling in her stomach from earlier had been replaced with an unpleasant tearing sensation, as if someone was trying to rip out her guts, but went slow and gentle about it to prolong the pain as much as possible. Isa straightened her tight, silver dress and left the dancefloor to sit down at the bar. She ordered the strongest drink she could think of and lowered her head so she wouldn’t have to see Florence’s reflection in the mirror behind the bar counter.

The alcohol tasted unpleasant in her mouth, cheap and stale, but she downed the contents of her glass in one and immediately ordered another one. While she was waiting for it, a woman sat down next to her. She gestured Isa to lean closer and Isa did, blinking fast to get rid of the haze of drunkenness which was clouding her eyes.

“Can I buy you a drink?” the woman shouted into Isa’s ear. She was so close that Isa could feel her hot breath.

“All right,” Isa agreed, thinking another drink wouldn’t do any harm.

She didn’t feel embarrassed with two drinks in front of her. Tonight, she wouldn’t feel embarrassed about anything.

“Rough night?” The woman smirked at her drinks.

“You could say that.”

“I’m Amber, by the way.”

“Isabella.”

When Amber leaned close to ask her the next question, her hand brushed lightly against Isa’s knee and Isa knew where this meeting would head.

“Are you here with anyone?”

“No,” Isa shook her head, turning towards Amber.

Amber was pretty in a way people would describe prettiness. She had long, blonde hair, a wide smile, straight white teeth, was thin but not bony, and looked amazing in the red dress she was wearing. A few months ago, Isa would have jumped at the opportunity to have sex with her. Tonight, she wouldn’t say no to such an offer, but it wouldn’t be for the reason that she genuinely wanted to sleep with Amber, but she would do it to forget Florence.

The alcohol was getting to her now and she felt warm and dizzy and overly confident. She leaned forward so her mouth was next to Amber’s ear and said, “But something tells me I won’t be leaving alone.”

Amber’s smile widened and had Isa not been as drunk as she was, she would have felt sorry for the poor woman; she would have stopped this before any more damage could be done. But she wanted to be selfish just once; she wanted to take and not give anything back.

They moved to an area next to the bar where people were sitting in alcoves around small tables. Further away from Florence. Amber secured a place for them next to a group of teenagers who looked far too young to be in here.

As soon as they had sat down, Amber’s hand was back on Isa’s knee. Isa didn’t need further invitation to bring their lips together and feel Amber’s body tense next to hers. She tasted like alcohol and cheap lip gloss, and Isa would have given a year of her life to be kissing someone else in her place, but she kept going, making sure her kisses had the desired effect on Amber.

After a while, Amber broke the kiss. “If you keep up this pace, we’ll have to leave soon,” she said, swallowing hard.

“Good,” Isa replied, licking her lips. “Your place or mine?”

“Mine’s just around the corner,” Amber settled the question.

They left their unfinished drinks on the table, Amber leading the way. Isa had to keep herself from looking back to the dance floor. Florence hadn’t come looking for her by now, so Isa really was wasting her time.

*

Amber was less drunk than Isa and so she was the first to notice that Isa’s phone was ringing. When Isa saw the caller ID, she waited until the phone went quiet and put it back in her purse.

“Everything all right?” Amber asked and Isa pressed her against the wall of a house and kissed her in return.

They kept staggering along; Isa, who usually was confident in high heels, needing to lean on Amber for support. Her phone kept vibrating in her purse, but Isa ignored it, instead focusing on stroking Amber’s arm lightly.

Amber stopped in front of a tall building. “Well, this is me.”

Isa smiled at her in an attempt to reassure herself that she wanted to go through with this.

“You might want to check your phone before we go up, though,” Amber remarked, glancing at Isa’s purse.

Isa nodded, too drunk to fully realise what she was doing. She had three missed calls from Florence and three text messages.

_Isa, where are you?_

_I need you, where are you?_

_Isa, please come to the hotel, I need you, Isa, please._

Isa knew she should put her phone back into her purse and go upstairs with Amber and forget about Florence. But she was certain she should go and check on Florence or she would regret it for the rest of her life.

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” she half-heartedly apologised to Amber while dialling the number of the taxi company.

“Can’t you come up, at least for a bit?” Amber asked.

“No, I’m sorry,” Isa declined. “One of my friends, she is sick, she needs me.”

“Oh.” Amber sounded disappointed. “Can I at least have your phone number?”

“I’m sorry, it’s urgent.” Isa raised her hand to hail a taxi while the other was still holding her phone where a confused man was trying to find out where she wanted a car sent to.

Isa jumped into the taxi and shouted the address of their hotel at the driver before slamming the door shut. She tossed her phone and her purse on the seat next to her and nervously tapped her fingers on her leg until they stopped at her destination.

*

Florence was alone in their room. She was sitting on Isa’s side of the bed, facing the door. Isa could see that she had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and swollen and there were trails the tears had left through the glitter on her cheeks.

“Where have you been?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

“Out,” Isa snapped.

Now that she was here and could see that nothing was the matter at all, she felt annoyed with Florence for calling her away from Amber.

“With that woman?” Florence wanted to know.

“Oh, so you did notice that, did you?” Isa crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. “I thought you were busy grinding against those men.”

“I was dancing with them, Isa,” Florence defended herself.

“That wasn’t what it looked like to me. I was surprised they didn’t throw you out for indecent behaviour.”

“You’re the one to talk, shoving your tongue down that woman’s throat.”

“You were busy.” It sounded bitterer than Isa had intended, but the hurt she had felt when she had seen Florence dance with those men came bubbling to the surface.

“We. Were. In. A. Club.” Florence started crying again, but more out of anger than anything else. “That’s what you do there. If anything, you were busy, not me.”

“I only started talking to Amber once you started dancing with those men,” Isa shoved the blame back at Flo.

“No one else wanted to dance with me.” Florence glared at Isa as if she was daring her to contradict.

“So you’re telling me you wanted to dance with me, but instead of asking you waited and when I didn’t come, you thought, ‘Whatever,’ and danced with someone else.”

“All I’m saying is I’m not the one who left with someone else.”

Florence could have hit her, it wouldn’t have hurt more. Isa felt angry and hurt and she wanted to make Florence feel the same by taking away the one thing she could always rely on: herself.

“Listen, I really don’t want to deal with your insecurities right now.”

“Well, you won’t have to,” Florence told her coldly. “I can see now that I’ve made a mistake. I’m going back to the club.”

She stood up and walked towards the door. Isa didn’t want to hold her back because it would lead to more fighting and she was tired and drunk and her feet hurt and she just wanted to sit down. But she also didn’t want Florence to leave and maybe end up in bed with one of those guys.

Out of a gut reaction more than anything, she took a hold of Florence’s wrist when she walked past and yanked her back, so they were face to face. Despite Isa’s high heels, Florence was still taller than her. She could see a single tear drop forming in the corner of Florence’s eye and she knew that, no matter what would happen next, their relationship would never be the same again.

With her free hand, Isa gripped Florence’s hair to keep her in place and began to bite and suck Florence’s bottom lip. It wasn’t the first time she had done this, but the feeling of wanting to possess her best friend was new.

Isa didn’t give Florence a chance to pull away and from the way Florence closed her eyes, it looked as if she didn’t want one. Encouraged by Florence’s response, Isa pressed her up against the wall, trapping her and deepening the kiss. Florence tasted like tears and sweetness and she tasted so familiar and so much like home that Isa couldn’t help but lick every corner of Florence’s mouth her tongue could reach.

The arm Isa had gripped was pressed against the wall next to Florence’s head. When she let go of it, Florence held it there, and when Isa used her free hand to stroke across Florence’s left nipple, which was already hard underneath her shirt, Florence twisted her hand and scraped her nails down the wall.

Isa watched Florence, who had her eyes closed and her mouth open, and pinched her nipple to see the reaction on Florence’s face before she bit and sucked the skin on her neck.

Florence let out a deep moan, which made Isa weak in the knees. “Yes, please,” Florence sighed. “Please, don’t stop.”

As if this hadn’t been confirmation enough, Florence gripped Isa’s shoulder when Isa stroked lightly across her nipple, teasing her. Isa thought about letting her hand wander under Florence’s white, rather see-through shirt, but decided on a more direct tactic. She pulled it over Florence’s head and tossed it to the side. Isa had both hands on Florence’s nipples now, still stroking and pinching them lightly.

“I love how you’re so turned on already,” she whispered. “And I haven’t even started yet.”

Isa pinched Florence’s right nipple hard and Florence moaned again, deep and vibrating.

“Do you know what I asked myself?” Isa went on.

Florence shook her head violently, eyes still closed.

“I wonder how wet you are.”

Florence sighed deeply and let her head fall back.

“And I think I want to find out.”

Isa let her right hand sink lower until it was touching Florence’s upper thigh. She stroked it lightly, using her thumb to tease Florence. Florence bit her lip in anticipation. Isa undid the button on Florence’s trousers and slowly pulled down the zip, all the while kissing Florence’s neck.

When she finally put a finger down Florence’s pants, Florence made a strangled sound and gripped Isa’s shoulder for support, so she wouldn’t fall down.

“Oh, you’re very wet,” Isa breathed into Florence’s ear. “What a good girl you are.”

Florence moaned desperately, her nails digging into Isa’s shoulder. Isa moved her finger slowly across Florence’s clit, all the while watching her face, her closed eyes, her open mouth.

“I would like to taste you,” Isa whispered and sucked Florence’s earlobe into her mouth. “I want to feel how wet you are for me with my tongue.”

“Yes,” Florence moaned and swallowed hard. “Yes, please. I’ve waited so long for this.”

Isa was sure that Florence was too far gone to realise what she was saying. But now was not the time to stop and talk about their relationship. Instead, she kneeled down in front of Florence and tugged down her trousers. Florence, who was barefoot, stepped out of them willingly. Then Isa used her teeth for Florence’s pants, her nose brushing the spot where Florence would have liked her tongue to be.

Florence was now completely naked, but it wasn’t anything Isa hadn’t seen before. They had been sharing the same hotel rooms for years, every time they went on tour, and Florence’s boundaries weren’t as tight as those of most people. But this was the first time Isa got to touch her body, got to tease her with her fingers and her tongue.

Isa breathed in the heat between Florence’s long, soft legs and Florence shivered. When Isa’s tongue flicked out to taste her, she sighed in relief. Isa wanted to make sure they both got the most out of this situation. She had waited too long for this and she didn’t want to think about if she would ever get this opportunity again.

When she pulled away from Florence, she could hear a groan of frustration from somewhere above her head. This groan turned into a gasp of surprise when Isa slowly started to finger her. She could feel that Florence was desperate by the way she was rolling her hips to meet Isa’s thrusts. Isa’s left hand came up to pin Florence’s hip against the wall, and Isa used her tongue to massage Florence’s clit, all the while moving her finger in and out of her.

Isa could tell by the way Florence’s moans were getting deeper and more urgent that she was getting close. When Florence’s stomach began to clench, Isa removed her finger and stood up.

Florence stared at her in disbelief, her eyes wide. Isa hitched her already short dress up further and put a finger down her own pants. She bit her lip when she met Florence’s eyes. Florence was staring at her hungrily, yet in disbelief as if she couldn’t believe that her Isa was touching herself in front of her.

As hard as it was for Isa to stop, she pulled her finger out of her pants and brought it up for Florence to see.

“Here, she said, “can you see how wet I am for you?”

To her surprise, Florence gripped her hand, brought the finger to her lips, and sucked it into her mouth. Isa couldn’t help but moan at the sight of her finger disappearing between Florence’s lips, at the knowledge that this finger had been not only in Florence, but also down her own pants and that Florence was sucking it now as if her life depended on it. Florence closed her eyes again at the sound of Isa moaning like this.

Isa removed her finger from Florence’s mouth and replaced it with her tongue and they both sucked and bit eagerly, breathing into each other’s mouths.

“Please,” Florence moaned between kisses, “please, will you let me touch you?”

“Yes,” Isa agreed, the question making her wetter than she had been before.

She pulled her pants down so they came to rest around her silver high heels and led Florence’s hand under her dress. Both moaned when Florence touched her for the first time. Trustingly, Isa allowed her eyes to fall shut and her head came to rest against Florence’s shoulder, while Florence moved her entire hand in time with Isa’s hips rolling.

Isa closed her fingers around Florence’s throat, tilted her head back, and whispered into her ear, “I want your finger inside me.”

Florence gladly obeyed, putting one of her long fingers into Isa.

“Another one,” Isa ordered, and Florence followed the command. “Faster,” Isa hissed.

Florence’s brows were coated in sweat, and she had a look of utter concentration on her face. Now it was Isa’s turn to moan in pleasure. She knew that Florence had done this before – they knew everything there was to know about the other, but Isa hadn’t expected her to be this good.

“You feel so good,” she told Florence. “You have no idea how often I have imagined what it would feel like to have your fingers buried inside me.”

Florence moved her hand faster in response. Isa could feel her body clench around Florence’s fingers with each thrust, and the wet sounds that filled the silence between them drove her closer and closer to the edge.

“No, stop,” she told Florence when she was sure the next few thrusts would bring her to orgasm.

Florence removed her hand quickly, confused.

“I’m too close,” Isa panted as explanation.

Without further ado, she put her hand between Florence’s legs again, getting a little moan as response.

“Oh, you’re still so wet,” Isa remarked, a little smile on her lips. “Did you enjoy touching me?”

“Yes,” Florence moaned in response.

Isa pushed one finger inside of Florence. “Did you enjoy seeing me touch myself?”

“Oh,” Florence made, closing her eyes as the memories came back to her.

“Would you like to see me do it again?” Isa teased her.

“Please, yes.” Florence put one hand on Isa’s arm and looked down between their two bodies to see where Isa was moving her finger in and out of her.

Isa let her free hand glide slowly across her upper thigh, well aware that Florence’s eyes were following her every move. She stroked the spot where her dress rested against her skin, grabbed the fabric, and pulled it up over her hips. Then she let her hand disappear between her own legs, which caused Florence to suck in her breath.

They were both very close and Isa knew it wouldn’t take them long to come. She touched herself in a way she knew would bring her to orgasm quickly while she brought up the thumb on her other hand to tease Florence’s clit while fingering her.

Florence was the first to come. Isa could hear her breath quicken and then she could feel her orgasm and her own body responded in sympathy. She moaned loudly when she came and Florence kissed her neck while she was coming down from her orgasm.

Isa carefully removed her finger and Florence slit down the wall and came to rest on her clothes on the floor.

“That was amazing, Isa,” she said, licking her lips. “Really good. Okay.” She breathed in deeply.

Isa tugged her dress back down and leaned against the opposite wall. “If you want,” she started carefully, “I mean, you don’t have to, of course, but if you want we could do it again sometimes.”

Florence looked up into Isa’s eyes. “Like fuck buddies, you mean?”

Isa hesitated. No, that was not what she had meant. Florence, apparently, wanted to be friends with benefits. Any other day, Isa would have agreed, even though such an arrangement would have made her unhappy. But she had just had her hands down her best friend’s pants, and this was not the time to hold back her feelings.

“Listen, Flo,” she began, “I have to tell you something. And I know that you probably don’t want to hear this and it’s okay if you want to forget about it right away.”

“You don’t want to see me again?” Florence asked quietly.

“No, the opposite,” Isa cried out. “The opposite, Flo. For weeks now I’ve liked you, I don’t know what’s happening to us, but I want to be close to you and kiss you and touch you and I get a strange feeling in my stomach every time I see you and I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“Oh,” Florence made and it was a tiny sound, nothing like the lustful one she had breathed out earlier. “Isa, I-”

“You don’t have to say or do anything,” Isa shrugged. “We can have occasional sex if this is what you want, I’d be only too happy to-”

But she was interrupted by Florence jumping up and kissing her forcefully. “Me too, Isa,” she confessed. “But I had no idea you were feeling the same.”

“Of course I feel the same, Flo, of course I do.”

Isa kissed her, relishing the feeling that this time it happened out of passion and longing. Florence’s breath hitched again.

“Oh.” Isa pulled away. “One orgasm isn’t enough for you, is it?”

Florence blushed and shook her head. “Not when you keep kissing me like this.”


End file.
